Where do I begin....
This was such a let down. Let me first start by framing my thoughts with the fact that I LOVE Superman. I do. I am a devout fan and the fact that Henry Cavill has been so perfectly cast only makes this all the more difficult.
1. This is such a jumbled forced script. I understand that Warner Brothers is trying to play catch up with Disney and the new Marvel storm that they have brought the cinematic world, but that's no reason to rush your script. There was so much forced into this that I had no clue what was going on the first 45 minutes of the movie and to be honest by the time I figured it out, I didn't care.
2. I also understand that Warner Brothers wanted to be first out of the gate and not be the remake. If you don't understand what I mean by that, just wait a few weeks and go see Captain America: Civil War. Same theory, similar characters, no doubt Disney didn't forget the plot.
3. Was there a need to recap all of Batman's story? We all saw the recent remakes Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises (not to mention the four before these). We know Batman's origin story and the recap was a total waste of time. On the flip side, was the name Diana Prince ever even mentioned....?
4. Wonder Woman?!?! Don't get me wrong, in the mess that was this movie, she was by far the best part. Having said that, there was no need to introduce her at this junction in the DC tale. She did nothing to further the plot and as mentioned above would have been a much more effective character had she been a CIA sleuth that is eventually identified as, yes you guessed it, Diana Prince. That's it. That is all we needed. No need to bring her into full Wonder Woman costume. Just introduce her as the alter ego that is in the present day... that makes more sense as we haven't been given her origin story yet.
5. Lex Luthor. Although perfectly cast as the despicable villain, Jesse Eisenburg played the role more like the Joker and less like the narcissistic genius that is Lex Luthor. He was creepy and clearly psychotic, on the edge and irrational almost, which isn't what Superman's nemesis is. The arch enemy of Superman is calm and cool and so smart that he is an actual threat to the Man of Steel. I get that Batman was in the mix but no need to resurrect the Joker.
6. Dark. We get it. DC is going dark. Dark Knight, Dark Knight Rises, Dawn of Justice. It's all very dark. Nevertheless, they have gone so dark that they have left out the fun that is a comic book movie. Where is the satire and the willingness to not take yourself so seriously but to accept that this is all based on comic books. Men in shiny tights with cool toys. It's suppose to be fun. This was just a black hole.
7. I will stop here. My hands are getting tired and my dismay is shadowing my ability to type. But let me make this last point. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are by far the three most popular and well known comic book superheroes... on the planet. There is no reason that these movies shouldn't be the very best and yet they (I am including Man of Steel in this) are being poorly represented and coming in a distant fifth or sixth to Marvel characters that I had never even heard of until recent years.
Pitiful.
The fight scenes go on way to long and the storyline is like a firework that was set off by accident.
* 1/2 - For devout fans it's rentable
Rated PG-13 (for excess violence)
Official Site: http://batmanvsuperman.dccomics.com/
Posts
